MOGRIDGE
Mogridge is a surname of strictly English origin. It is recorded as a descendant of the Old English personal name Mauger or Maugerus, itself a variant of Malger. The element mael in this name means “council” and the element gar means “spear”, so that the original personal name can be understood as a person entitled to a council spear or a council‑bearing spear.
The name is also linked to a place name situated in Devonshire. The placename Mogridge derives from an ancient personal name Mogga, the etymology of which is uncertain, joined with the Old English word hrycg, meaning a ridge or spur. Such place names are common in the region, with other examples such as Foulridge, Henstridge and Tandridge; the suffix -ridge consistently indicates a raised landform. During the Middle Ages a person often adopted the name of their village when moving elsewhere, and this practice led to a broad dispersal of the surname throughout the country and to the emergence of several variant spellings.
Historical records give the earliest surviving instance of the surname under the spelling Moggryg on 11 September 1541, when a christening witness named Phillip Moggryg was noted in Molland, Devonshire. Later examples include Johane Moggryge who married William Estmonte on 25 June 1544 at Molland, and Owndry Moggridge christened at Woodbury in 1566. The recorded variants of the name in modern usage are Muggeridge, Mugridge, Moggridge, Mogridge and Mockridge.
One notable bearer of the name, John Mogridge, was a rebel who partook in Monmouth's Rebellion of 1685. Following the suppression of the uprising, he was transported from Taunton to the Barbadoes in the same year, reflecting the harsh penal practice of the time.
Today the surname is still most commonly found in the historic county of Devonshire, though the various spellings of the name can be traced across the United Kingdom. The persistence of the surname and its recognised variants attest to the long-standing influence of both personal naming traditions and geographic features on the development of family names in English history.
Typical given names associated with the Mogridge surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- Fraser
- Guy
- James
- John
- Lee
- Michael
- Peter
- Robert
- Simon
- Stephen
- Steve
Female
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Julie
- Katherine
- Louise
- Margaret
- Rebecca
- Rhiannon
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Mogridge in...
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There are approximately 622 people named Mogridge in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around ten in a million people in Britain are named Mogridge.
Famous people named Mogridge
- Martin J. H. Mogridge - Transport analyst (1940 to 2000)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.